1. Sign-off on upgrade to 2003.1.4

Chris asked the group whether there were
any showstoppers that would prevent the upgrade from proceeding on Sunday,
March 13. No LIS members reported any significant problems and agreed that the
upgrade could proceed as scheduled at 7pm on 3/13/2005.

2. Debriefing from Sirsi Superconference 2005

Chris and Gracemary reported
on their experience at the conference. The three and a half day annual SIRSI
Superconference was held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, TN.
There were over 1000 customers, 31 vendors, and numerous SIRSI employees in
attendance. If anyone would like to access the presentations connect your
browser to:
http://www.superconference.info.
When accessing a powerpoint, word document, pdf file, or other presentation
aid you will be prompted for a login and password. Please contact Systems for
this information.

Highlights from this discussion are listed below.

a. Change in Workflows client names - with the release of the Java based
Workflows client, SIRSI announced that the new Java client will now be known
as the "J" client and the existing Workflows client will be referred to as the
"C" client.

b. New Unicorn Software Releases change numbering scheme - instead of
including a year in the software release number (eg. 2003.1.4.5), for the
foreseeable future SIRSI will generically identify their software releases. The
next version of Unicorn will be called GL3.0. According to Berit Nelson, VP
for Product Management, "The GL stands for "Global", which reflects both the
move to the WorkFlows Java client being multi-platform and also the capability
of supporting character sets that are supported by Unicode and, with GL3.0,
the option of moving to support for Unicode in the Unicorn server. The move
away from use of the year to name versions should allow all of us to
communicate more clearly about functionality or corrections available in a
given release."

c. The Superconference presenter discount is decreasing next year from $250 to
$200. Next year's conference will be the last year with a separate DRA
business meeting.

d. Pat Sommers, CEO of SIRSI, reporting on the complexity of supporting the
Unicorn software in his annual address, noted that there are 2,862 possible
variations of Unicorn. This figure was arrived at by multiplying 54 possible
OS/DB combinations of Unicorn installed times 53 named versions currently
supported.

e. ERM (Electronic Resources Management) - SIRSI is developing an ERM product
that will be integrated with the new J client. They are not developing a
standalone product. To start SIRSI is assembling an ERM Review Forum comprised
of large academics and other sites interested in participating. The Review
Forum will begin by evaluating the 200+ fields recommended by the Digital
Library Federation.

f. SIRSI has a SIP2 server compatible with RFID systems and is exploring
partnerships with RFID providers to offer a SIRSI branded solution. Chris
attended a presentation on RFID implementation from four public libraries. The
implementation strategies were interesting and the benefits are worthwhile but
the cost is still quite high.

g. SIRSI continues to make progress developing support for Unicode. Unicode is
slated for release in 2006. The system requirements are 1) the Oracle version
of Unicorn, 2) approximately 50% more available disk space and memory than
is currently needed for Oracle, 3) "J" client (the old "C" client is not being
developed for Unicode support), 4) Unicorn version GL3.1 (version of Unicorn
to be released in 2006), and 5) the Unicode server extension (additional
software product.)

In addition, SIRSI will support the entry of non-Roman scripts in three ways.
They are 1) the Symbol table helper in WorkFlows, 2) Microsoft international
keyboards, and 3) Microsoft supported IME (Input method editor). How will
browse results be sorted when you have a mix of Roman and non-Roman scripts?
SIRSI's answer is that they will sort these results using the "unicode
collating sequence". The unicode collating sequence is defined as "a set of
rules that determines how character strings are compared, searched, and
alphabetically sorted and provides a standard way to put names, words or
strings of text in sequence." What font is being tested to present search
results in iLink? SIRSI's answer is that they are testing the Microsoft Arial
unicode font.

h. SIRSI is currently beta-testing the ability to use Pay Pal to accept
payment of fines/fees via the OPAC. They plan to support other e-commerce
solutions such as VeriSign later in 2005. They also plan to add a credit
balance field to the patron record.

i. The system administration API tools will be updated in 2005 to accept XML
input and provide XML output.

j. Support for Linux will be added with the release of GL3.0.

k. SIRSI will support a single sign-on to the OPAC for sites that use
LDAP/Athens. This change will add an new ID field to the patron record and
will be provided to all sites at no-charge.

l. SIRSI is developing their own portal product (think myRutgers) that brings
together their web-based products/interfaces such as iLink, Rooms, SIRSI
Single Search, and SIRSI Resolver.

m. SIRSI is participating in the Normative Data Project (NDP). The NDP is a
"centralized, national data repository for library collections data and
circulation transactional data from contributing North American public
libraries." "The goals of this cooperative effort are to 1) compile
transaction-level data from libraries throughout North America, 2) link
library data with geographic and demographic data on communities served by
libraries and, 3)empower library decision-makers to compare and contrast their
institutions with real-world industry norms on circulation, collections,
finances, and other parameters." SIRSI will make NDP data available to
Directors Station customers at no extra charge. For more information on the
Normative Data Project connect your browser to:
http://www.librarynormativedata.info.

3. IPAC iLink Update

Stephanie Bartz and Bob Warwick reported on the status
of the iLink implementation. IPAC is currently evaluating iLink's delivered
features and, right after Spring Break, will send a message to RUL_EVERYONE to
solicit feedback from library faculty and staff. Bob is working on modifying
screen layout, searching functionality, pull-down lists, and many other
customizations. iLink is still on schedule for a rollout sometime in May
between the Spring and Summer semesters.

4. Number of bib records

There are 1,848,849 bib records. This is a 12,439
record increase over last month.

5. Director's Station

Chris reported that SIRSI is preparing for our
software install. One of SIRSI's project managers emailed a document outlining
the a general implementation schedule.

6. Next LIS meeting

The next LIS meeting will be held on April 14, 2005 at 1:30 in the TSB
conference room.